IM Pouria Darini topping the Iranian Chess Championship

Jan 7, 2011

1st to 9th January in Tabriz, in the East Azerbaijan province

The 2011 Iran Chess Championship for men (for the year 1389 according to Iranian calendar) is being played from 1st to 9th January in Tabriz, in the East Azerbaijan province. The Championship is taking a different format compared to earlier years – this time 24 players including five Grandmasters and five International Masters compete over the 11 rounds of Swiss pairing system.

GM Elshan Moradiabadi held the lead from the beginning up to the 6th round after which he counted 4.5 points on the scoreboard. But in the 7th round IM Pouria Darini stunned Moradiabadi and took over the helm.

The defending champion GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami defeated IM Sayed Javad Alavi and now with 5 points is closely following Darini. GM Moradiabadi with his first loss in the tournament dropped to the shared third place.